Has BJP Double Crossed This Karnataka Politico?

Former MLA, former minister and strong BJP supporter Ramesh Jarkiholi must be a shocked man. On Thursday, the IT sleuths knocked his doors and raided his premises, offices and other relatives. They found that the MLA and his accomplices, associates and relatives have unaccounted riches estimated at Rs 105.61 crore. Ramesh Jarkiholi, who felt that he was safe from the IT raids as he is a BJP supporter, must have been bamboozled by this raid.

Jarkiholi, who won on the Congress ticket from Gokak assembly constituency, has joined hands with the BJP and brought several Congress MLAs into the BJP fold. These MLAs resigned their posts to ensure that the BJP will get a working majority to form the government in Karnataka. In all this, Jarkiholi played a key role. But, despite all these, the IT sleuths raided his premises.

Jarkiholi and his family own 10 cooperative sugar factories in Belagavi and Gokak. But, raids revealed that eight of the 10 factories existed only on paper. They did not exist on the ground. The raids came at a time when Jarkiholi was planning to become a formal member of the BJP along with his supporters and followers.

The question dogging the Jarkiholi family is whether the BJP has double crossed them? Is there a strong section within the BJP, which does not like his joining the BJP?